Hamline Collaboration with Hamline Elementary

Hamline University student in elementary classroom

Hamline to Hamline Collaboration

For over 100 years, Hamline University and Hamline Elementary School have been working together to change education and change lives. In 1991, the Hamline to Hamline Collaboration formalized its work and became the first university-elementary partnership of its kind.

In 2018, the partnership grew again to include Hamline’s School of Education and Leadership to create a lab school partnership. A lab school is a preschool, elementary, or secondary school that has a distinct relationship with a college or university and emphasizes inquiry-based, contextualized learning connected to the students and communities they serve.

We are a K-5 and higher education learning community where interest-driven learning enhances student-centered instructional practices and disrupts systemic inequities so all students can thrive. When you join this partnership, you become a member of a community of K-16 students, faculty, and teaching staff who engage in community and academic experiences. This interdisciplinary collaborative aims to strengthen relationships between the two campuses through a variety of programs and opportunities.

Hamline to Hamline programs

From paid positions to volunteer opportunities, Hamline University students are active participants in academic, athletic, and relational learning experiences in a public elementary school environment. This one-of-a-kind experience creates meaningful opportunities for learning, reflection, and growth for everyone involved. Our collaborative lab school partnership centers on six primary programs:

Academic tutoring

The tutoring program places university students in an elementary classroom to provide individualized support in literacy and math. Tutors earn money through federal work-study funds. The goals of this program include providing increased opportunities for academic success and hands-on learning experiences for elementary and college students.

Academic and athletic pairings

Academic and athletic pairings bring together students from both campuses to participate in a variety of academic experiences. The goal is to link students' personal interests with, and ignite curiosity around, college and career choices through authentic and relevant campus experiences. This program adds to the strength of both schools' community and curriculum.

Hand in Hand mentorship

Hand in Hand is a Hamline University student organization that pairs students with Hamline Elementary students through a volunteer mentoring program at Hamline Elementary School. University students meet with their elementary "buddies" for 30 to 45 minutes per week to build a relationship through fun activities and community engagement programs.

Snelling Connection

Snelling Connection is a writing and communications program where Hamline Elementary students and Hamline University students work together to create media that expresses who they are as individuals and who we are as a community. Elementary and university students explore and develop personal voice and engagement with community perspectives using various modes of communication. Read Snelling Connection back issues (issuu.com).

Guided clinicals

As a collaborative lab school, our approach to teaching and learning is based on inquiry, competency in communication, critical thinking, self and community identity awareness, and creativity. Guided practicum teaching clinicals in literacy, math, and restorative practices serve the needs of Hamline Elementary students and teachers and Hamline University education students. Education students have an early opportunity to link teaching theory to practice and gain valuable professional insight from the experience.

Fellowships

Eligible education students can apply for a 14-week paid STEM or media literacy fellowship where they work directly with Hamline Elementary students and staff up to 20 hours per week. The final semester of the fellowship integrates a student teaching placement at Hamline Elementary and tuition credit for the student teaching seminar.
 

Hamline to Hamline faculty and staff

Maggie Struck
Associate professor, literacy and elementary instruction
Lab School Initiative principal investigator and Hamline to Hamline collaboration coordinator
mstruck01@hamline.edu
651-523-2367

Jessica Kopp
Lab School project manager
jkopp06@hamline.edu
651-523-2938

Patty Born
Assistant professor, environmental education and STEM
Lab School advisor
pselly01@hamline.edu

Joe Lewis
Associate professor, education; administrative head of Hamline School of Education and Leadership; department chair of ADAL and teacher education
Lab School advisor
jlewis06@hamline.edu
651-523-2659

Mike Reynolds
Professor, English
Lab School advisor
mreynolds01@hamline.edu
651-523-2641

Media and presentations on Hamline to Hamline

The Hamline to Hamline Collaboration has earned industry acclaim and the media's spotlight throughout the years. See what experts are saying about the power of Hamline to Hamline:

Contact information